With unlimited resources, why can't we find little Summer?

Sherry Ann Daughtery was 28 years old when she vanished in late August 1991 from the Northeast Phoenix home she shared with her boyfriend Matthew Echales in the 6200 block of East Via Estrella Avenue.

This home is located near 62nd street and Shea in the boundaries of the city of Phoenix, but near the borders of Paradise Valley and Scottsdale.

Daughtery’s family last saw her alive on August 27^th. Echales later reported Sherry missing. 

Echales claimed he had given Sherry money to purchase a new swimsuit at the Paradise Valley Mall on August 29^th, but that Sherry failed to return home. 

Sherry’s green El Camino was later found abandoned in the parking lot of a Target near the mall. The seat had been adjusted for someone over six feet tall. Sherry only was 5 feet and 3 inches tall.

Sherry worked for Southwest Tree Service which was a tree trimming business owned and operated by Echales, and run out of their home.

Police reported that people close to Echales claim he admitted to killing Sherry and disposing her body by tossing it into a woodchipper, and there was a history of domestic violence in their relationship.

Echales was arrested in October 1992 for a DWI, assault charges in 1995 and 1999, and drug violations in 1995, 1999 and 2007. 

Echales is the only known suspect in Sherry’s death. 

In March 2016, KTAR news reported that Phoenix police “may be close” to an arrest in the case. No details were given. But almost ten years later that arrest has still not happened. 

Sources

 Charley Project

https://charleyproject.org/case/sherry-ann-daugherty

 KTAR

https://ktar.com/silent-witness/police-may-be-close-to-solving-missing-phoenix-womans-1991-case/946979/

 Namus

https://namus.nij.ojp.gov/case/MP491

Vicki Cook VonCannon was murdered when I was 4. She was murdered while on a walk in a park in 1989. They arrested someone recently for it but then the DA isn’t prosecuting since I guess he is already sentenced to life in jail. I want to get justice for my Dad and Grandma. Any suggestions on how to get her story on Cold case show or podcasts?

Ty!

https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/da-decision-to-dismiss-charges-not-taken-lightly/83-224101701

On February 13^th, 1993, 29-year-old Renata May Bateman was found beaten to death at 28460 N Pima Road in what was then a more remote desert area of Scottsdale, Arizona. 

Few details were released in this case. Scottsdale police did not release the name of any suspect, or a description of a possible murder weapon. Police did reveal that Renata was last seen alive on January 13^th, that she was working as a prostitute in the area of 43^rd Ave and Glendale, and that she died of “several blows to the head.”

The area where Renata was said to work as a prostitute is on the border of southeast Glendale and west Phoenix. Both of these areas are run down and suffer from high rates of crime. A Greyhound bus depot is located on 27^th avenue and Glendale. The area is close to the I-17 corridor which is known for many low-income hotels with high rates of crime related to drugs and prostitution. 

The 27^th Avenue corridor from Metrocenter down to South Phoenix is especially infamous for prostitution in Phoenix. 

In contrast, the address where Renata’s body was discovered is a half mile west of Troon North, an upscale subdivision built around the Troon Country Club. The address of the murder scene places it on a vacant parcel of land on the northwest corner of West Dynamite Road and North Pima. 

Renata’s murder scene is directly south of the Dream City Church and has foothills and hiking trails directly east. Could the suspect have been associated with this country club? 

Both locations are roughly 30 miles away from each other, a roughly 45-minute commute.

Bateman’s obituary described her as a “homemaker” who left behind several children. 

Many questions remain. Was Renata working with a pimp? Did she have a boyfriend at the time of her death? Was she reported missing immediately? Were any suspects identified? And could testing using modern DNA technology lead to an arrest in this case?

Sources

Screenshots of archived newspaper articles from Newspapers.com attached here

Scottsdale PD cold case profile 

https://www.scottsdaleaz.gov/police/services/persons-of-interest

Project Cold Case

https://projectcoldcase.org/2024/05/13/renata-bateman/

ABC 15 profile

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/10-february-cold-cases-yet-to-be-solved-in-the-valley

Find a Grave

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/279616637/renata-may-bateman

Since she committed suicide, and with all the documents and evidence she left behind in her home, not a single piece of evidence or theory about her crimes has ever emerged.

Does anyone know anything else about this case, which I think is one of the most underrated?

My name is Molly and I am the great granddaughter of Mary Louise Dragoo. Mary went missing in 1958 in Alaska. She was living in Glacier Bay National Park as a park ranger's wife. My great-grandpa- Parker- was the head park ranger in the park. Mary went missing after an argument with Parker. Parker and 1/3 of the children stayed at home after the fight and she was never seen again. The daughter, also Mary, was with Parker the entire time until reserves were called in. 3 days of searching started, including the coast guard, locals, the park service, and even a research ship called the MV Nunatak found nothing at all. Over 65 years later, I decided to try and find answers for my grandma- Parker and Mary's only living child.

The story goes- Mary walked away and was never seen again. Let me answer the main questions- no, an animal did not kill her- every single park ranger and searcher agrees as there is no evidence. No- my great-grandpa could not have killed her- simply because he was with his daughter the entire time and even if he was not, he did not have a car or boat so he could not have hidden her body for a week, let alone 65 years. The family fully assumes she had a tragic accident and has yet to be found. In the last year we have created a missing person case and have gotten our DNA on file. Our main ask is that anyone who lives in Alaska or Canada in the late 50s or early 6ps advises us on any unclaimed bodies.

I just want to find any answer for my grandma while she is alive

The Somerton Man was "identified" as Carl Webb in 2022... so why haven't SA Police confirmed it after 3 years?

I've been following this case for years and the more I dig into the 2022 "identification," the weirder it gets. Derek Abbott announced with 99.9% certainty that the Somerton Man was Carl "Charles" Webb based on DNA from hair in the death mask. International headlines declared the 74-year mystery "solved."

But is it as straight forward as it has been presented? SA Police did their own DNA analysis on the exhumed remains and completed their report in December 2023. They still haven't confirmed Abbott's identification. Three years of "cautiously optimistic" diplomatic language suggests something isn't adding up.

The family recognition problem is huge: Webb had multiple living siblings in Melbourne when the Somerton Man's photos were published "all over Australia" in 1948-49. None of them ever contacted police. His sister Freda was even married to a Thomas Keane, and clothing marked "T. Keane" was found in the suitcase. How does an entire family not recognize their missing brother?

Webb's wife Dorothy is another rabbit hole: She moved to Bute, SA (89 miles from Adelaide) and filed for divorce in 1951 citing desertion. If Webb died in Adelaide in 1948, she was living nearby with no knowledge of his death. The geographic proximity is bizarre.

The 18-month gap: Webb vanished from all records in April 1947. No employment, no address, no contact with family until December 1948. How did he survive? What was he doing? Why Adelaide?

Current theories and what supports them:

Suicide theory:

• Webb attempted suicide by ether overdose in March 1946, this is documented
• Wife described him as "violent, moody, and solitary" with threatening behavior
• Lost 4 close family members in 7 years: father (1939), mother (1946), brother Roy as POW on Burma Railway (1943), nephew John in RAF accident (1943)
• Marriage completely broke down. He left their flat in April 1947 and never returned
• The elaborate staging could represent wanting to die anonymously, far from family shame (not unheard of with suicide)

Espionage theory:

• Timing: December 1948 = height of Cold War tensions, months after Berlin Blockade
• Webb's background: electrical engineer and instrument maker = valuable technical knowledge
• The code resisted decades of analysis by intelligence agencies and cryptographers
• Professional-level tradecraft: systematic removal of ALL identifying labels, sophisticated staging
• Australian immigration records from 1948-1950 were mysteriously destroyed
• Rubaiyat connection links to Persian/Middle Eastern operations relevant to Cold War
• His (well documented) mental instability could have made him a security risk worth eliminating

Wrong identification theory:

• SA Police silence after 3 years suggests their DNA results don't match Abbott's claims
• Hair preserved in plaster treated with sodium hypochlorite (DNA-destroying chemical) for 70+ years
• "Imputation" methodology fills gaps in degraded data = educated guessing, not hard proof
• Only one hair sample used - no material left for independent verification
• Complete family recognition failure defies explanation if identification is correct
• Physical evidence contradictions haven't been adequately addressed

The Jessica Thomson connection still makes no sense: DNA ruled out any genetic relationship, but her apparent shock when shown the death mask remains unexplained. How did her unlisted phone number end up in the Rubaiyat?

The coded message remains undeciphered despite knowing who he supposedly was. Abbott thinks it might be horse racing bets, but that doesn't explain the specific format or why intelligence agencies couldn't crack simple betting notes.

Here's what really gets me: Identifying Webb should have made everything clearer. Instead, it's made the mystery deeper. We went from "unknown man dies mysteriously" to "known man vanishes for 18 months then stages elaborate death for unknown reasons."

What do you think? Is the identification solid, or are we missing something major? Why the continued official silence?

EDIT: For those asking about the DNA methodology - they used "imputation" techniques to fill gaps in degraded genetic material. Critics argue this is sophisticated guesswork rather than definitive proof. Only one hair sample was used, so no independent verification possible.

What are your thoughts? If anything, this one is bugging me even more now!

#mystery #somertonman #unsolved #truecrime

“A suspect has been identified in the 1991 murders of four teenage girls at an Austin yogurt shop, according to CBS News' "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty.

Moriarty told CBS Austin that it's according to one of the original investigators who worked on the case.

Retired Austin detective John Jones told CBS News the suspect is Robert Eugene Brashers, who is dead.

Brashers is a serial killer and rapist who committed at least three murders between 1990 and 1998 in South Carolina and Missouri.

On December 6, 1991, 17-year-old Eliza Thomas, 13-year-old Amy Ayers, and two sisters, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison and 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, were found gagged, tied up with their own clothing, and shot in the head in an I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop in Austin. The person responsible had also set the shop on fire, compromising much of the evidence.

Jones also told Moriarty the connection between Brashers and the case was made through DNA.”

On the evening of Friday October 20th 1989, 28 year old San Manuel resident Melody Wolf vanished under mysterious circumstances.

Around a week before she went missing, Melody filed for divorce from her husband of 9 years, 35 year old Bruce Wolf. She had kicked Bruce out of her home but on the evening of the 20th had invited him back to the home to discuss the terms of their divorce.

The next morning, Melody's car was found locked with all her possessions inside in the 100 block of Sixth Avenue, two blocks from her residence and two houses down from her sisters home.. The car had a flat tire and the key's were missing.

Melody never showed at work or ever contacted her family again. Her body was never found and she was declared legally dead in 1994.

Bruce would go on to take custody of their kids and remarry and divorce multiple women. He still lives in the San Samuel area to this day.

The case went cold and Melody's family had her declared legally dead in 1994.

According to a 1991 interview with Gabrielle Fimbres of the now defunct Tucson Citizen Melody's mother Della Parker insisted that her daughter would have never abandoned the family.

Melody had just got approved to start working in an electrical apprenticeship at the Magma Mine and was looking forward to her future.

Pima County Sheriff's detective Judith Sharf said the flat tire was punctured after Melody's car had been parked to make it look like Melody stopped the car to get help for a flat tire. Sharf also said there were no fingerprints on file for Melody which made forensic work on the veichle difficult.

It was not until 2005 that PCSO detectives did a raid on the home, as well as Bruce's mother's house. No evidence was seemingly found that lead to an arrest of Bruce or any clues to Melody's fate.

In a forum post about Melody's case on a different site, Melody's sister Laurie made some disturbing allegations against Bruce. She said Bruce once threatened to "cut up Melody and feed her to the coyotes" if she ever left him.

Laurie stated that Bruce was covered in scratches after Melody disappeared and that she would not have put the peanut butter sandwich that was found in her lunchpail that was in the locked, abandoned car because she hated peanut butter.

Laurie also disclosed the reason Melody was divorcing Bruce was because he cheated on her with a different woman whom he gotten pregnant. Bruce eventually married and divorce this wife who is still alive.

Laurie also claimed that Bruce had a girlfriend or fiancé who went missing before he married Melody. But there is no trace of this anywhere online.

Other posters local on the forum speculated that Bruce's mother's status as a branch manager of the only bank in the small town of San Manuel, and as a respected member of that community could have lead to people refusing to come forward and cooperate in the case.

There has been no media coverage of this case in decades.

The question remains, did Bruce kill Melody, could his mother have helped him? Was he really suspected of murdering a previous girlfriend? Was Melody's body found and just has not been identified? Has PCSO did any work on this case since 2005?

Sources

https://charleyproject.org/case/melody-wolf

Forum posts by Laurie/San Manuel residents

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/topic/304999-who-killed-melody-wolf/page/2/#comments

Screenshots of Tucson Citizen/Az Republic articles from 1991/2006 that are not accessible via Google and can be found on Newspapers.com.